Javad Nekounam (; born 7 September 1980) is an Iranian

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He holds the record for the most appearances for the Iranian national team with 149 caps. Nicknamed ''Neku'' by numerous Iranian football fans, he played as a

, and is also regarded as one of greatest players of the history of Esteghlal Tehran. Nekounam represented the Iran national team a record of 149 times, playing several major tournaments including two

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

and four Asian Cups. He is currently Hated among Esteghlal fans. After finishing his coaching career at Esteghlal, this popularity in the media decreased.

Club career

Early years

Nekounam was born in

Ray, Iran Shahre Ray, Shahr-e Ray, Shahre Rey, or Shahr-e Rey (, ) or simply Ray or Rey (), is the capital of Ray County, Iran, Rey County in Tehran Province, Iran. Formerly a distinct city, it has now been absorbed into the metropolitan area of Greater T ...

. Having played for

Pas Tehran F.C. Pas Tehran Football Club (, ''Bashgah-e Futbal-e Pas Tehran'') was an Iranian football club based in Tehran, Iran. Pas F.C. was the football club of the multisport Pas Cultural and Sports Club. The club has a long and rich history and has alwa ...

for several years, appearing in the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

with the team, he signed a five-month contract with

Al-Wahda F.C. Al Wahda Football Club () is an Emirati professional football club based in Abu Dhabi, that competes in the UAE Pro League. The club was founded in 1974 and plays its home games at the Al Nahyan Stadium. The club's colours are maroon, navy blue ...

in the United Arab Emirates for US$1 million, in 2005. In January 2006, Nekounam joined

Al Sharjah SC Sharjah Football Club () is an Emirati professional Association football, football club based in Sharjah that competes in the UAE Pro League. Their home stadium is the Sharjah Stadium (football), Sharjah Stadium. Founded in 1966, Sharjah is consi ...

, although some European clubs such as

1. FC Kaiserslautern 1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern (), K'lautern or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to Association football, football ...

and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

had previously shown interest in him.

Osasuna

After his performance at the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams represe ...

Nekounam was linked to the likes of

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC () or Hertha Berlin, is a German professional football club based in Berlin. Hertha BSC plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football league system, German footbal ...

of the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

and

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. With origins dating back to 1899, they were founded in 1950 and p ...

, but he eventually joined

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. The team's ...

on a two-year contract, with an option to a third year and a (about)

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

5 million minimum release-fee clause. On 22 February 2007, Nekunam finally scored in the 120th minute of the match against

FC Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux () or simply Bordeaux, is a French Association football, football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde (department), Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitain ...

in the knockout stages of the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

to help to a 1–0 home win and aggregate score, and after a particularly successful first season began to attract interest from other European sides, notably Scotland's

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

who had a £1 million pound offer rejected. On 14 August 2007, Nekounam suffered an

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

rupture in his right knee and, after undergoing a successful surgery in

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

, Germany, was sidelined for eight months. His number 24 was given to new signing Jaroslav Plašil, and after some time finally he recovered from his injury. On 31 August 2008, Nekounam scored Osasuna's first goal of the season, from the penalty spot in a 1–1 home draw against

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Villarreal, in the Province of Castellón, Castellón province of easte ...

. In November/December he also netted, but the

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

se failed to win at

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, who compete in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system, following the ...

(4–2 loss) and with

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

(3–3), also opening the score in the 3–1 away defeat to

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

on 18 January 2009. On 21 May 2011, Nekounam renewed his contract with Osasuna for another two seasons, with the option of an annual renewal of his link. In July of the following year, amidst interest from Iranian club

Esteghlal F.C. Esteghlal Football Club (استقلال), commonly known as Esteghlal (meaning 'The Independence'), is the oldest Iranian professional association football, football club based in Tehran that competes in the Persian Gulf Pro League. The club was ...

and unnamed Turkish and Qatari clubs, it was reported that he would only remain with at the

El Sadar Stadium Estadio El Sadar (; known as ''Estadio Reyno de Navarra'' from 2005 to 2011, ) is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium in Pamplona, Navarre, Spain. The stadium holds 23,516 people. It was built in 1967 and is the home of CA Osasuna, Osasuna ...

if he accepted a salary reduction – he was the highest-paid player.

Esteghlal

On 21 July 2012, aged almost 32, Nekounam returned to his country and signed a two-year deal with Esteghlal for a record fee of US$1,500,000, which made him the most expensive player in the

Iran Pro League The Persian Gulf Pro League (, ''Lig-e Bartar-e Xalij-e Fârs''), formerly known as the Iran Premier League (, ''Lig-e bartar-e Irân''), is a professional association football league in Iran and the highest level of the Iranian football league s ...

history. He scored his first goal for his new club in a 3–2 loss to

Foolad F.C. Foolad Khuzestan Football Club (, ''Bāshgāh-e Futbāl-e Fulād-e Khuzestān'') is an Iranian professional football club based in Ahvaz, Khuzestan, that plays in Persian Gulf Pro League. The club was founded in 1971 and is owned by Foolad Khuze ...

on 28 November, through a penalty. On 5 May 2013, against the same opponent, he also found the net, helping his team secure their 28th league title and winning his second national championship.

Al-Kuwait

On 14 January 2014, Nekounam agreed to a four-month contract at

Kuwait SC Kuwait Sports Club () is a Kuwaiti professional football club based in Kuwait City. Their football team has won Kuwait Premier League 19 times and has won over 50 trophies overall. The club plays in the Al Kuwait Sports Club Stadium located i ...

. He scored his first goal for the club on 2 February, netting the only in an AFC Champions League qualifier against Al Shorta SC. Nekounam scored three goals in the 2014 edition of the

AFC Cup The AFC Champions League Two (abbreviated as the ACL Two or ACL2) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. It is the second-tier competition of Asian club football, ranked below the AFC C ...

, and also won the season's

Kuwait Emir Cup The Kuwait Amir/Emir Cup () is a Kuwaiti football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ...

Return to Osasuna

On 4 August 2014, Nekounam returned to Osasuna by signing a two-year deal. He scored in his first game upon his return, a 3–1

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

loss against

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

on 6 September. On 2 November he added another, helping to a 3–2 home victory over

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

Saipa

Nekounam returned to Iran and its

Persian Gulf Pro League The Persian Gulf Pro League (, ''Lig-e Bartar-e Xalij-e Fârs''), formerly known as the Iran Premier League (, ''Lig-e bartar-e Irân''), is a professional association football league in Iran and the highest level of the Iranian football league s ...

on 6 July 2015, joining

Saipa F.C. Saipa Football Club (, ''Bashgah-e Futbal-e Saipa'') is a soccer, football club from Tehran, Iran. The team is owned by SAIPA, an Iranian automobile manufacturer. The team has never had a large fanbase. In the 2006–07 season, under the guidanc ...

for one year. He scored his first competitive goal for his new team on 6 August, the second in a 2–0 win at Rah Ahan Yazdan FC.

Al-Arabi

On 21 January 2016, Nekounam moved to Qatari club Al-Arabi SC on a four-month contract with an option to extend for a further year. In his first match, at home against

Qatar SC Qatar Sports Club () is a sports club based in Doha, Qatar. It is best known for its football team which competes in the Qatar Stars League. The club was founded in 1961 with the merger of two Qatari football clubs, Al-Oruba and Al-Nasour. They ...

, he assisted countryman Ashkan Dejagah in an eventual 1–1 draw. Nekounam left on 30 June 2016, and the 35-year-old announced his retirement two weeks later.

International career

Nekounam received his first call-up to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

in 2000. He became a starter for the national side during the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

qualifiers and, already a key midfield element, played two of the national team's matches during the

in Germany, being suspended for the final group game against

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

after his second

yellow card Yellow card may refer to: * Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas * Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band * Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative co ...

against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. Additionally, Nekounam helped Iran win the

2002 Asian Games The 2002 Asian Games, officially known as the XIV Asian Games and also known as Busan 2002 (), were an international multi-sport event held in Busan, South Korea from September 29 to October 14, 2002. Due to schedule impediments the football tour ...

and the

2004 West Asian Football Federation Championship The 2004 West Asian Football Federation Championship took part in Iranian Capital of Tehran. Iran won the final against Syria 4–1. The 6 entrants were Iraq, Iran, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan. The finals took place between 17 and 25 J ...

, and also represented the country in the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and

2011 AFC Asian Cup The 2011 AFC Asian Cup was the 15th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Qatar from 7 to 29 January 2011. It was the secon ...

s.Javad Nekounam – Century of International Appearances
; at

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (''RSSSF'') is an international organisation dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around ...

He was ''Team Mellis leading goalscorer in its successful 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign and, on 1 June 2014, he was selected by

Carlos Queiroz Carlos Manuel Brito Leal de Queiroz (; born 1 March 1953) is a Portuguese football manager. He has served as the manager of his native Portugal's national team, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Iran, Colombia, Egypt and Qatar, leading ...

for the finals in Brazil, where he captained the nation in an eventual group-stage exit. Nekounam also made the 2015 Asian Cup squad, in December 2014. In March 2015, he hinted that a friendly against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

on the 31st – five days earlier, against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, he had become his country's most capped player after surpassing

Ali Daei Ali Daei ( ; born 21 March 1969) is an Iranian Association football, football manager and former professional footballer. A Striker (association football), striker, he was the captain (association football), captain of the Iran national footbal ...

– might be his last international, but later went back on that statement only to confirm it the following day and subsequently send an emotional open letter to fans; he scored 39 goals for his country, and shortly after retiring was named Queiroz's assistant.

Managerial career

Midway through the 2017–18 season, Nekounam became the manager of F.C. Nassaji Mazandaran. His team won 23 points from his nine games in charge, and were promoted to the

after a 24-year absence.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Iran's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nekounam goal.''

Managerial statistics

Honours

Javad Nekounam celebrating IPL title with Esteghlal

Player

Pas *

: 2003–04 Esteghlal *

: 2012–13 Al-Kuwait *

: 2013–14 Iran *

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

* AFC – OFC Challenge Cup: 2003 * West Asian Football Federation Championship:

Individual * Iran football award winners: Player of the Year *

Dream Team:

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

* Asian Footballer of the Year nominee: 2013

Manager

Nassaji Mazandaran *

Azadegan League The Azadegan League (, ''Lig-e Âzâdegân''), also known as League 1 (, ''Lig-e Yek''), is the second highest division of professional football in Iran. It was the top-level football league in Iran from its foundation in 1991 until 2001, when t ...

: runner-up (promotion) 2017–18 Foolad *

Hazfi Cup Hazfi Cup (, ) formerly known as Pahlavi Cup () is an Iranian knockout football competition held annually by the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran. The Iranian Football League, Iranian football league was not held during the 1980s, h ...

: 2020–21 *

Iranian Super Cup The Iranian Super Cup (Persian language, Persian: سوپر جام ایران, ''Super Jam-e 'Iran'') is an Iranian association football trophy awarded to the winner of a match between the Persian Gulf Pro League's season champion and the winner of ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Esteghlal *

runner-up: 2023–24

Notes

References

External links

*
profile
at TeamMelli.com * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nekounam, Javad 1980 births Living people Sportspeople from Ray, Iran Footballers from Tehran province Iranian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Persian Gulf Pro League players Azadegan League players PAS Tehran F.C. players Esteghlal F.C. players Saipa F.C. players UAE Pro League players Al Wahda FC players Sharjah FC players La Liga players Segunda División players CA Osasuna players Kuwait SC players Qatar Stars League players Al-Arabi SC (Qatar) players Iran men's under-20 international footballers Iran men's international footballers 2004 AFC Asian Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2007 AFC Asian Cup players 2011 AFC Asian Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 AFC Asian Cup players Footballers at the 2002 Asian Games Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Asian Games medalists in football Asian Games gold medalists for Iran Iranian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Kuwait Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Iranian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Iranian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Iranian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar FIFA Men's Century Club Iranian football managers Iranian expatriate sportspeople in Kuwait F.C. Nassaji Mazandaran managers Foolad F.C. managers Persian Gulf Pro League managers Esteghlal F.C. managers 21st-century Iranian sportsmen